Midnight Snuggles
by EvelynThursday
Summary: After a horrible day Treville looks over his (mostly) sleeping Musketeers and reminds himself how each man's life affects how they sleep. And how they all fit together, even when they are not awake.


It was the end of a very long day and running his fingers through his hair, Treville was relieved that it was finally over. Only one thing left to do before he could sink exhausted into his bed- check on a certain four of his musketeers who almost had as terrible day as he had.  
He crept towards the room in the garrison that they all shared when they couldn't bear to sleep apart and quietly opened the door, unwilling to wake any of the occupants up. In the room four beds were pushed together to make one large sleeping surface covered in blankets, pillows and sleeping bodies, except the one closest to the door.

He's seen his men at their best and their worst so over the years he had been privy to information that only the closest to them had known. Like their sleeping habits. As such he was unsurprised to see Athos blearily sitting up on a pile of pillows and blankets on the floor by the edge of the bed nearest the door. He knew that on the nights where he didn't drink himself into an alcohol induced stupor he slept restlessly, often landing on the floor with a hard bump.

It was one particularly loud bang, one very late evening a few years before D'Artagnan joined them, which made him leave his desk to investigate the noise whilst he was still working into the night. He found two pairs of eyes on the bed sleepily looking at Athos who was slowly clambering off the floor and back into bed, rubbing his elbow where it had hit the unforgiving wood. After assuring himself that there was no danger and finding out that this was normal behaviour for a sober Athos, he wished his men a restful night and retreated back to his desk with a mental note to go out to the market in the morning. By the next afternoon he had left a bundle of blankets, cushions and pillows tied with twine in their room with the note 'For between Athos and the floor.'

On the bed behind Athos, who was taking a moment to yawn and rub at his eyes, was the young D'Artagnan who had quickly claimed his place in the group, and in the group's bed. Treville watched with amusement as the Gascon, who already occupied more than his fair share of the surface, shifted to also claim Athos's recently vacated spot. He was young, relatively inexperienced and therefore had not yet witnessed the horrors that would permeate into the troubled sleep of the others. As such his sleep was deep and easy and his limbs spread carelessly. Noticing Treville's slight smile, Athos turned around to regard his sleeping partner.

Behind the youngest was Aramis, stuck like a limpet to Porthos' side, arms around his waist, face pressed into his hip and a knee hooked around Porthos' foot. The difference in position was caused by the larger man sleeping sitting up, leaning against the wall behind them and supported with pillows.  
Aramis, Treville knew, never slept properly after Savoy. He could still remember the nights when he woke in his own lodgings in the garrison to find Aramis pacing the corridors and the courtyard trying to tire himself enough to sleep without nightmares. It wasn't until he had started sleeping around again that Aramis had started to look more awake during his duties. He didn't find out why until he was on a mission with his three inseparables, where Aramis didn't settle to sleep in camp until Porthos, tired of his pacing, had dragged him down next to him where he leaned up against a tree and scolded him,

"If you can't sleep without body heat next to you just ask before working yourself into exhaustion." To Treville's surprise the man snuggled into the larger mans side as best he could, fingers fisting the front of his shirt and relaxed into sleep; Porthos looked down at the man fondly.

"If he is next to someone warm that means that he is not back in Savoy," explained Athos from by the fire, who had the first watch, "and that he's not amongst twenty dead men."

Porthos' sleeping position was not as easily explained as the other three, but Treville guessed that it had something to do with growing up in the Court of Miracles; from what Porthos had told him you could trust your friends with your life but you couldn't trust your enemy with your pet flea and as such had to be on guard at all times, even whilst sleeping. As a seasoned soldier he could see the benefits to that position, easier to get up, easier to defend with a larger line of sight, but he couldn't see how anybody could be comfortable enough to get any sleep like that. He reasoned that when you have no choice you adapt and that by now old habits die hard.

Athos regarded his captain with a sleepy but guarded expression. He slept closest to the door to protect his comrades from danger. Always being on guard was one reason for his nightly restlessness, Treville assumed, as well as the memories of his ex-wife.

"Is there anything that you wanted, sir?" The question was asked quietly so to not wake up the sleeping men in the room.

"No, Athos. I was just checking you lot were all alright before I got some rest. You know how much of a trying day it was. Just setting some fears to rest before I sleep." Treville turned away from the door but was stopped by the sudden grip on his wrist as Athos, now standing, tugged him into the room fully and shut the door.

"You'll sleep better tonight in here, sir. There's room for all of us." Just as Treville opened his mouth to refuse Athos gave him a sleepy glare. "Get undressed sir, you know we can't go anywhere with you here. You'll sleep all the better for the reassurance." The captain nodded and slowly removed his weapons, leathers and boots as he watched his lieutenant gather D'Artagnan's limbs with practiced ease and turned him from his sprawled position on his back to be tucked neatly against Aramis' back, all without waking the boy. Athos then got in and it was then that he realised that Athos was giving up his own place by the door and was giving it to his captain. It just showed how much trust that he had in him that he trusted him to protect his brothers in arms.

He left the candle that was burning on the shuttered window sill lit, he didn't know who that was meant to reassure but it was always burning when they were there, and settled on his back under the covers next to Athos. He hadn't lied when he said that being here was reassuring and Treville quickly found himself falling asleep. The last thing he felt was the comforting feeling of Athos pressing his forehead into his shoulder as he himself settled into sleep.

* * *

It was not until the next morning that Treville discovered that he had some sleep quirks himself. He had not noticed them whilst alone in his narrow bed and being on the constant alert whilst out on mission had hidden them, but being comfortable in a large bed with four other men had highlighted them greatly. He had woken to find his head hanging off the edge of the bed and his feet tangled with d'Artagnan's and possibly one of Aramis'. At some point in the night he had even managed to worm himself under Athos whose knees were propped up in the air over his captain's own and who was giving him a fondly amusing look.

"Did you know that you sleep on the diagonal, sir?"


End file.
